Comfortable vision requires a limited range of light levels at any particular time and excessive changes and contrasts in light levels in a brief period cause disabling glare. But it cannot adapt in a short space of time. The human eye has evolved to allow it to adapt to a wide range of light levels from bright sunlight to almost total darkness. Since 2013, there have been 293 accidents a year on average where dazzling headlights were a contributory factor. The problem is getting worse with 63 per cent saying it’s happening more often than a year or two ago and 64 per cent thinking they risk causing other drivers to have collisions as well as 67 per cent unable to tell if the headlights of oncoming vehicles are dipped or on full beam. Research published by the RAC in March 2022 found 89 per cent of drivers think that some or most vehicle headlights on the UK’s roads are too bright with 88 per cent saying they get dazzled by them while driving. I needed to wait 10 minutes for my eyesight to recover and after readjusting my mirror I headed home to Edinburgh with a blinding headache. I hurriedly turned my rear-view mirror askew to stop the pain, then pulled over as soon as I safely could to let the SUV pass. The glare from these headlights in my rear-view mirror was so bad it caused me physical pain in the eyes. Just after leaving the M74, a Porsche SUV with LED headlights at the same height as my rear window approached from behind me, then followed me at a distance of about twenty yards. Just over a year ago I was driving back from Cumbria to Edinburgh. (Blogs are written by LightAware supporters in a personal capacity)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |